Ikea Liatorp Table Turned Rectangular Banquette Table

We started with an old Ikea “Liatorp” table that Kevin and I bought to use in our previous home several years ago, and then at some point along the way (maybe when we moved into our current home?), it moved over to Kevin’s parents house. Jim and Katie have enjoyed using it as their breakfast table ever since, and hoped that we could figure out a way to make it work in the Bungalow Barn too. Jim is a shorter fella, and likes the way the table’s feet are positioned because he can use them as footrests when he sits at the table on his scooter.

I didn’t take a ton of photos the day we hacked the table, but in a nutshell, if you want to change the top of the table from round to rectangle so that you can use it in a banquette area, you’ll need to first remove the round one and reposition the square piece of wood underneath it. The square piece (which is unpainted) will have six holes in it. I’ve circled the them in the photo below:

The reason you have to do that is because you’ll want to turn the base so that the legs sit the right way in relation to the new top. Like this:

That photo was taken after we drilled six new holes (they’re circled) and reattached the square of wood so that it was positioned the right way. Before that, the one table leg (closest to the bottom of the photo) would’ve been turned 45 degrees clockwise and would’ve stuck way out past the (new) top and into the area where Jim’s scooter will be.

The rest of the construction was pretty simple. Just a picture frame-style border and five planks in the center, sort of like this, but minus the two boards running the opposite direction in the middle:

That’s not my photo, but I had a hard time getting a photo of the lines on the top of J & K’s because the room is so bright and sunny! 🙂

We still have to paint the banquette seating, and I think we’ll use the same “Cotton White” Farmhouse Paint that I used on the table. Here’s an Insta-story I posted yesterday if you’d like to hear a couple of reasons why I chose it:

I’m going to round up a couple of oilcloth tablecloths for Katie to use on the table too, because I know once she sees how much Steevenson loves sitting out there, and what types of things he likes to do there (Playdoh, stickers, coloring, painting, etc), she’ll probably want to keep it covered with something that is wipeable most of the time. I’m working on a post about all of the gorgeous ones I’ve come across while I’ve been searching, and I look forward to sharing it with you on Monday. ‘Til then, happy weekend, y’all!

Thanks for sharing your idea! I have a pedestal table with a top that’s kind of trashed (veneer that’s not refinishable), that I planned to paint. However, I will need a rectangular table in our new house. Perfect solution for us!

How do you like the paint you found? I looked it up online and there are only 2 suppliers in Oregon…. will have to wait till we take a trip to look at them and colors but I am anxious to see if it is as easy as they say it is. Good Find Layla…. thanks for sharing.

Totally copying! I have an old, oak pedestal table that would be great for a small kitchenette-sized table (we live in an apartment). Thanks for the inspiration.
Steevenson has grown so much! Thanks for posting that sweet video.